Japanese comfort food @ Sake Bar Hagi (a midtown izakaya)

Izakayas are the japanese equivalent of pubs in the UK mixed with a tapas component - they're comfortable, you can easily catch a sports game or just throw back some drinks (sake, beer and much more) and sample a variety of small, inexpensive dishes with friends.  I really like this style of dining and it's a good thing I live pretty close to Saint Marks with no lack of izakayas to frequent but on this cloudy, often-rainy day, some friends and I decided to head up to Midtown to eat at Sake Bar Hagi (49th and 7th).

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The Decor: (7.5/10)

The Pros:

• Very comfortable, well-spaced out tables
• Good service and an attentive waitstaff
• Feels like a good place to talk loudly, drink and eat with abandon
• Semi-private section for larger parties

The Cons:

• Crowded, there's always a wait of around 30 minutes - an hour, no reservations accepted
• Not many tables
• Location-wise, Midtown West is definitely not one of my favored dining neighborhoods
• I counted at least 4 tv's broadcasting the basketball game of the moment

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The Food: (8.5/10)

• Great value - none of the dishes I saw were priced above $10 and most were in the $5-$6 range
• Very fresh ingredients and simple preparations really spotlighted the star ingredients in each dish
• Most of our dishes were cooked perfectly and seasoned perfectly andsubtly
• A wide selection of dishes

Deep-fried chicken with ponzu citrus sauce and grated daikon ($6.50)

• Deliciously crispy skin, juicy meat and fried well so this wasn't very oily at all
• Sweet, tart and salty balance with the ponzu citrus sauce
• This has always been one of my favorite dishes and it's hard to find it done well

Fried rice with spicy cod roe ($8.50)

• Probably the biggest surprise winner of the night - this dish is incredibly simple, just some spicy cod roe, egg, scallion and shredded nori on top of rice but amazingly flavorful.  This could easily have been bland and boring but the chefs have a deft hand with seasoning and enough restraint not to oversalt so all the flavors in the dish were expertly enhanced and balanced

Soft-shell crab tempura with ponzu citrus sauce ($6.50)

• Beautifully fried, incredibly fresh and really well-priced
• The ponzu citrus sauce really goes with all sorts of fried things really well and it enhanced the flavor of the crab really well in this case

Kobe beef skewer ($4)

• A standard skewer kicked up a notch with pieces of glazed tender pieces of kobe beef
• Nothing too special but good
  

Agedashi tofu: deep-fried tofu with dashi sauce ($5.50)

• Pretty bland and uninteresting - the tofu had a light crispy coating and falls apart as soon as you bite into it but the dashi had no depth

Roasted eggplant ($4)

• INCREDIBLY smokey - I don't think I've ever had a dish with a smokier profile but it was surprisingly good
• A little nub of the eggplant was left on the plate so we surmised that the eggplant was blistered directly over an open flame and then peeled
• The bonito flakes and sweet sauce cut the bitterness of the eggplant quite a bit and made this dish really interesting

Takoyaki: pan-fried octopus balls ($6)

• Takoyaki are incredibly popular in all sorts of street stalls, izakayas and markets in Japan and I always remember them fondly as a festival food
• These unfortunately were way too mushy though the chunks of octopus in each were pretty tender and tasty

Grilled onigiri with soy sauce ($3)

• Grilled rice brushed with a light soy glaze always = deliciousness

Red bean ice cream, mochi, azuki ($3)

•  Good quality red bean ice cream which wasn't overly sweet, azuki beans and paste and some really chewy mochi balls made this the perfect end to a good meal

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Summary and More info:

Address: 152 West 49th Street, lower level

FoodistColony aggregated reviews

NYT Review

NYmag Review

 

Luxury Japanese-Influenced Desserts @ Luxee, Pho and Banh Mi @ An Choi

It's always been a bit of a struggle finding great dessert spots in NYC mostly because I have a certain sugar threshold and most dishes are way too sweet for me.  I guess it's for that reason that I've always had a soft spot for asian desserts - particularly japanese-influenced courses.  My desserts hitlist:

• Kyotofu: Kyoto-style desserts, lots of innovative uses of tofu
• Otto: fantastic gelatos and dessert concoctions from Batali's brainchild
• The Redhead: get the caramelized banana nut bread if you want an instant gut-punch of nostalgia
• Basta Pasta: a wicked molten chocolate volcano
• Veniero's: a good italian dessert standby in the neighborhood
• ChikaLicious Puddin'
• John Dory: just try the treacle pudding and you'll understand (trust me)

This past weekend, I hit up Luxee in the LES, a spot that's been on my wishlist for a while and I have to say I would go back again and again. 

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Luxee (Japanese/French, Dessert)

The Decor: (6.5/10) 

I wasn't a big fan of the decor mostly because of the strangely depressing yellow lighting in a narrowish LES cafe but I did love the nice glass display up front showing off a strong line-up of desserts.

Interior Photo credit: Metromix

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The Food: (9.5/10)

The food on the other hand, was divine and most were incredibly cheap for the amount of time, care and ingeniuty involved.  When was the last time you ordered a dessert in a restaurant that blew your mind and cost less than $6?

Luxee describes itself as a seasonal, organic, natural and modern japanese/french-influenced dessert cafe with a heavy focus on the aesthetics and design of its dishes.  I'd say Chef Shirakawa's creations definitely live up to the concept. 

Banana Imperial: Sweet chocolate mousse, jasmine cream brulee, banana gelee, sauteed banana, whip cream, streusel ($6)

Quite a mouthful of ingredients but all the components really worked well together.  I loved the little leaf peeking out of the top of the dessert and the sauteed bananas were deliciously creamy and caramalized.  I'm a big fan of jasmine but would have thought that it wouldn't be a good match for such a banana-heavy dessert but surprisingly, it was really delicate and brought out a really different side to the bananas.

Mont Blanc: Marron concasse and marron paste, tomato-rose jam, vanilla cream, chocolate ($6)

This dessert was amazing!!  I've always had a thing for mont blanc cakes but this rendition was absurdly good.  There were so many flavors and textures going on in this dessert that it's hard to keep them all straight but somehow it all worked.  Crushed, candied chestnuts, creamy chestnut paste, a really crispy bottom layer and this delicious tomato-rose jam (though I didn't really taste the tomato much) that lent it a really florally afternote.  I'm still having daydreams about this dessert days after.

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More info and reviews:

Luxee: 6 Clinton Street, LES

FoodistColony Reviews

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An Choi (Vietnamese):

After dessert, we of course logically decided to grab some dinner at An Choi, a much-hyped Vietnamese restaurant in the LES.  It seems like recently, there's been a sudden wave of coverage on the once humble banh mi:

• NYT: Building on Layers of Tradition
• Grub Street: Banh Mi Boom
• eGullet forums

The Decor: (7.5/10)

I loved the feel of the dining room - it really does transport you out of NYC to a tiny roadside dining spot in SE Asia, naked lightbulbs and all.  The only gripe I had was that the stools weren't the most comfortable things in the world and it was quite cramped (but I suppose that adds to the ambiance?)

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The Food: (8.5/10)

Banh Mi Thit Heo Quay: Chinese Crispy Roasted Pigchunks of moist chinese roast pork belly and slivers of crispy skin ($8)

My mouth is watering just revisiting this delicious, delicious banh mi. Apologies for the terrible photos but it was exceedingly dark and I really wanted to dig in.  There are lots of great vietnamese places in NYC and a lot of them are way cheaper than the $8 price tag tacked onto this particular porky delight but there's definitely something to be said about quality ingredients and a deft hand in balancing all the particular elements of a sandwich.  Great bread, luscious pork and crispy skin from a chinatown butcher, cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon and crispy shrimp chips on the side make this a perfect end to a good day of fooding.

Pho Bo - Beef Noodle Soup: a hearty beef broth scented with cinnamon, cloves and star anise. served with rice noodles and brisket & eye round

Delicious, steaming pho in a rich beef broth - not spectacular but great comfort food

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More info and reviews:

An Choi - 85 Orchard Street

FoodistColony Reviews

Zenkichi: Perfectly executed Japanese tapas in an unlikely place

On a recent, wintery night, I ventured out into Williamsburg to take a peek at an intriguing new Japanese izakaya that had just opened in the neighborhood. I'm a huge fan of izakayas and the small plates/plentiful drinks combo they serve so I consider it my civic duty to try out all the ones I come across in NY. Thus far, I have my favorites among the handful in the East Village (Typhoon, Oh! Taisho), Yakitori Totto in midtown and fond memories of a few that I tried in Tokyo (the most notable one located in an indescript dark, gray office building on the 8th floor in Shinjuku somewhere). I'd heard raves about the great food at Zenkichi (apparently the only restaurant in NY to serve cod milt - that's cod sperm to the uninitiated), interesting decor (think mirror-maze, semi-private booths and forests of bamboo poles) and a very interesting ordering scheme by buzzer. So it was that I jumped on the L train at 14th and 1st to hop over 1 stop to Williamsburg.

The Exterior: (7/10)

Williamsburg has a very industrial chic neighborhood vibe - plenty of bars and restaurants to light the way. I knew that the entrance to Zenkichi was going to be somewhat obscure but we still nearly missed the entrance (the solid wall of bamboo).

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The Interior: (8.5/10)

"Bamboo forest"; Dimly lit semi-private dining booths - you can draw a blind down to really seclude yourself; A better shot of the booth from Kalina

Perched on the edge of every booth was this very innocent looking buzzer. Needless to say, the button was pushed many times throughout the night :D
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The Food: (9.5/10)

A large selection of sake - my recommendation: go for the ichi no kura (crisp, clear and quite possibly the best sake I've ever had to date - $11)

Monkfish Foie Gras served with ponzu citrus sauce ($7)
One of the best dishes of the night - smooth, creamy without being too mushy and really nicely accented by the intense citrus of the ponzu sauce. The beautiful layers of foie gras were nicely accented by the grated radish, scallions and seaweed as well.

Simmered japanese eggplant & pan fried rice cake in bonito broth ($8.50)
Yum :) I really liked the pan fried rice cake (mochi) in this dish - they were nicely sticky and just a bit crisp.

Chikuzen: Taro potato, bamboo shoots and chicken simmered in chicken broth
I didn't like this dish too much - the bamboo shoots overpowered all the other ingredients and the chicken broth was a bit too mild to compensate for it.

Agedashi Goma Tofu - Deep fried homemade sesame tofu in light broth ($9)
Probably one of the most interesting tofu dishes I've ever had - slightly sweet, warm, gooey and filled with alluring notes of sesame and the essence of tofu. The texture of the homemade tofu itself was unexpectedly soft so the contrast between the silky innards and the crispy thin outer skin was really pleasing.

Nagoya Teba Wings: Crispy chicken wings with special blend of Japanese spices ($6.50)
Wow, I've been having such a hard time finding good asian-style chicken wings (though I haven't tried Tebaya as of yet).. I think this is it though. I'm not sure what's in the "special blend of japanese spices" but whatever it is, I want seconds! This was five pieces of perfectly fried chicken wings with a nearly greaseless exterior and really tender meat.

Pork Kakuni- Sweet & complex flavor of pork belly achieved by 3 days of slow-cooking ($9)
This was one of the dishes I was looking forward to the most but was a bit of a disappointment. I think the dish was cooked for one day too many - the meat was a bit tough and the sauce lacked any true depth. It wasn't bad - it could just have been a whole lot better.

Anago & Cream Cheese: Soft seawater eel & Cream Cheese tempura ($8)
Truly wonderful pairing of soft seawater eel and cream cheese. This dish hit all the right notes - crispy, creamy, tart, salty and a bit bitter compliments of the dash of green tea powder they included. Highly recommended.
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The Desserts: (8.5/10)

We decided to cap off a great meal with a tasting of all four desserts on the menu.

Sobako mille crepes
Very light crepes made from sobako (buckwheat flour - the same flour used to make soba) and filled with a green tea cream topped off with a dollop of red beans, a slice of pear and some strands of green tea chocolate (?).

Frozen sesame mousse
Wow... these two perfectly formed, frozen scoops of sesame goodness disappeared very, very quickly from the table. This was richer than the richest ice cream I've ever had but yet still felt ethereally light. The toasted sesame flavor really worked well here too - a great treat for sesame lovers.

Genmai creme brulee
Delicious but unexciting - this was a well executed creme brulee flavored with genmai.


Grapefruit gelee
I was expecting this dessert to be a distant cousin of jello but nothing could have been further from the truth. This was a really refreshing end to a fantastic meal. The essence of the dish is essentially grapefruit, grapefruit and more grapefruit. Little sections of grapefruit were spread liberally throughout a nicely firm gelee, providing little packets of juiciness that I never expected. Overall, very tart and sweet and the presentation in a half grapecruit bowl is very appealing.

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In Summary
Definitely one of the best food experiences I've had to date - this is a fantastic place to bring friends or a date, the food is amazing and the service couldn't be better.

Info:

Make a Reservation

L train to Bedford Avenue
Wed-Sun 6pm-Midnight

Uminoie (Beach House) - Homestyle Japanese comfort food in the East Village

I heard about this great hidden gem in the East Village - a "beach house" serving homestyle, Japanese comfort food owned by 2 Japanese girls with no restaurant experience at all - just a dream and the irrepresible will to open up a restaurant in one of the toughest markets in the world. They must have done something right since they're still very much in business and churning out some really good comfort food.

The Exterior:

I nearly walked right by this place even though I knew how inconspicuous it would be.

The Interior: (8/10)


Very comfortable and low-key interior - we were seated at one of the tables but I'd go for the sitting area, cushions and all, the next time I visit.

The Food: (7/10)

Fruity sochu sangria

Goto Udon (Special udon noodles from Goto Island in agedashi fish broth ) $6 - Definitely the highlight of the meal. All of the food is served in the style of Goto Island (where one of the owners grew up) but this dish really felt like it captured the spirit of the cuisine the best - simple, mellow, warming and hearty.

Japanese style seafood pancake made with glutinous rice flour - delicious and highly recommended! This was the perfect blend of crunchy and chewy and wasn't overly oily as many of the korean seafood pancakes I've had tend to be.

Niku Jaga ($6) - beef and potato stew simmered in a traditional Japanese broth. This was fairly average and very mild.

Simmered pork belly - extremely delicate flavor and great fatty texture. Doesn't it seem like a lot of restaurants these days have great pork belly dishes? The only experiences I've had with pork belly prior to this year have been with my grandmother's traditional style stewed pork dishes or "red cooking" as Grand Sichuan calls it.

Final Thoughts:
Overall, I had a great time at this restaurant. It's fairly small so reservations are recommended but the atmosphere is great - the crowd mostly japanese and generally boisterous and in good spirits. The food is very authentic and filling though a bit more expensive than you might expect once you've gotten through a few rounds of plates.

Info:

Urbandaddy review
NYT review